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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,027 records · Page 57
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

A physical interpretation of impedance at conducting polymer/electrolyte junctions

We monitor the process of dedoping in a planar junction between an electrolyte and a conducting polymer using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy performed during moving front measurements. The impedance spectra are consistent with an equivalent circuit of a time varying resistor in parallel with a capacitor. We show that the resistor corresponds to ion transport in the dedoped region of the film, and can be quantitatively described using ion density and drift mobility obtained from the moving front measurements. The capacitor, on the other hand, does not depend on time and is associated with charge separation at the moving front. This work offers a physical description of the impedance of conducting polymer/electrolyte interfaces based on materials parameters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Impacts of crystal orientation of GaAs on the interfacial structures and electrical properties of Hf{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub x} films

One of the major challenges in realizing the GaAs channel in the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor is the degrading in electron transport properties at the interface between GaAs and the gate oxide. In this study, Hf{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub x} gate oxide films were deposited at a low temperature (200 °C) on GaAs(111)A and GaAs(100) substrates by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition. Microstructure analysis indicates that residuals of gallium oxide, arsenic oxide, and As element remained at the interface of Hf{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub x}/GaAs(100). On contrast, a smoother interface is observed between Hf{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub x} thin film and GaAs(111)A substrate. Furthermore, a reduction of interfacial layer is observed in Hf{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub x}/GaAs(111)A. Electrical characterization of the metal-insulator-semiconductor Pt/Hf{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub x}/n-GaAs(111)A capacitor indicated a reduction of D{sub it} and leakage current compared with the capacitor fabricated on GaAs(100)

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Supercapacitors specialities - Materials review

The electrode material is a key component for supercapacitor cell performance. As it is known, performance comparison of commercial available batteries and supercapacitors reveals significantly lower energy storage capability for supercapacitor devices. The energy density of commercial supercapacitor cells is limited to 10 Wh/kg whereas that of common lead acid batteries reaches 35-40 Wh/kg. For lithium ion batteries a value higher than 100 Wh/kg is easily available. Nevertheless, supercapacitors also known as ultracapacitors or electrochemical capacitors have other advantages in comparison with batteries. As a consequence, many efforts have been made in the last years to increase the storage energy density of electrochemical capacitors. A lot of results from published work (research and review papers, patents and reports) are available at this time. The purpose of this review is a presentation of the progress to date for the use of new materials and approaches for supercapacitor electrodes, with focus on the energy storage capability for practical applications. Many reported results refer to nanostructured carbon based materials and the related composites, used for the manufacture of experimental electrodes. A specific capacitance and a specific energy are seldom revealed as the main result of the performed investigation. Thus for nanoprous (activated) carbon based electrodes a specific capacitance up to 200-220 F/g is mentioned for organic electrolyte, whereas for aqueous electrolyte, the value is limited to 400-500 F/g. Significant contribution to specific capacitance is possible from fast faradaic reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface in addition to the electric double layer effect. The corresponding energy density is limited to 30-50 Wh/kg for organic electrolyte and to 12-17 Wh/kg for aqueous electrolyte. However such performance indicators are given only for the carbon material used in electrodes. For a supercapacitor cell, where two electrodes and also other materials for cell assembling and packaging are used, the above mentioned values have to be divided by a factor higher than four. As a consequence, the specific energy of a prototype cell, hardly could exceed 10 Wh/kg because of difficulties with the existing manufacturing technology. Graphene based materials and carbon nanotubes and different composites have been used in many experiments reported in the last years. Nevertheless in spite of the outstanding properties of these materials, significant increase of the specific capacitance or of the specific energy in comparison with activated or nanoporous carbon is not achieved. Use of redox materials as metal oxides or conducting polymers in combination with different nanostructured carbon materials (nanocomposite electrodes) has been found to contribute to further increase of the specific capacitance or of the specific energy. Nevertheless, few results are reported for practical cells with such materials. Many results are reported only for a three electrode system and significant difference is possible when the electrode is used in a practical supercapacitor cell. Further improvement in the electrode manufacture and more experiments with supercapacitor cells with the known electrochemical storage materials are required. Device prototypes and commercial products with an energy density towards 15-20 Wh/kg could be realized. These may be a milestone for further supercapacitor device research and development, to narrow the storage energy gap between batteries and supercapacitors.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Supercapacitors specialities - Technology review

Commercial electrochemical capacitors (supercapacitors) are not limited to mobile electronics anymore, but have reached the field of large-scale applications, like smart grid, wind turbines, power for large scale ground, water and aerial transportation, energy-efficient industrial equipment and others. This review gives a short overview of the current state-of-the-art of electrochemical capacitors, their commercial applications and the impact of technological development on performance.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Self-pulsing of hollow cathode discharge in various gases

In this paper, we investigate the self-pulsing phenomenon of cavity discharge in a cylindrical hollow cathode in various gases including argon, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and air. The current-voltage characteristics of the cavity discharge, the waveforms of the self-pulsing current and voltage as well as the repetition frequency were measured. The results show that the pulsing frequency ranges from a few to tens kilohertz and depends on the averaged current and the pressure in all gases. The pulsing frequency will increase with the averaged current and decrease with the pressure. The rising time of the current pulse is nearly constant in a given gas or mixture. The self-pulsing does not depend on the external ballast but is affected significantly by the external capacitor in parallel with the discharge cell. The low-current self-pulsing in hollow cathode discharge is the mode transition between Townsend and glow discharges. It can be described by the charging-discharging process of an equivalent circuit consisting of capacitors and resistors.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrical characterization and an equivalent circuit model of a microhollow cathode discharge reactor

This paper reports the electrical characterization and an equivalent circuit of a microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) reactor in the self-pulsing regime. A MHCD reactor was prototyped for air plasma generation, and its current-voltage characteristics were measured experimentally in the self-pulsing regime for applied voltages from 2000 to 3000 V. The reactor was modeled as a capacitor in parallel with a variable resistor. A stray capacitance was also introduced to the circuit model to represent the capacitance of the circuit elements in the experimental setup. The values of the resistor and capacitors were recovered from experimental data, and the proposed circuit model was validated with independent experiments. Experimental data showed that increasing the applied voltage increased the current, self-pulsing frequency and average power consumption of the reactor, while it decreased the peak voltage. The maximum and the minimum voltages obtained using the model were in agreement with the experimental data within 2.5%, whereas the differences between peak current values were less than 1%. At all applied voltages, the equivalent circuit model was able to accurately represent the peak and average power consumption as well as the self-pulsing frequency within the experimental uncertainty. Although the results shown in this paper was for atmospheric air pressures, the proposed equivalent circuit model of the MHCD reactor could be generalized for other gases at different pressures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Oxide-free InAs(111)A interface in metal-oxide-semiconductor structure with very low density of states prepared by anodic oxidation

In this letter, we present structural, compositional, and electrical characteristics of anodic oxide layer-based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors on n-type InAs(111)A, along with the effect of a thin fluorinated interfacial passivation layer. Electrochemical oxidation in acid electrolyte with addition of fluorine (NH{sub 4}F) led to the formation of oxygen free well-ordered wide gap fluorinated interfacial layer at InAs(111)A with the fixed charge (Q{sub fix}) and density of interface states (D{sub it}) in the range of (4–6) × 10{sup 10 }cm{sup −2} and (2–12) × 10{sup 10 }eV{sup −1 }cm{sup −2}, respectively. We found that MOS capacitors showed excellent capacitance-voltage characteristics with very small frequency dispersion (<1% and <15 mV). Fluorinated interfacial layer consists of crystalline isostructural compound with the InAs substrate, which remains intact with the atomic smoothness and sharpness that explain unpinned behavior of the Fermi level.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Development of a microwave capacitive method for the spectroscopy of the complex permittivity

We describe a vector network analyzer-based method to study the electromagnetic properties of nanoscale dielectrics at microwave frequencies (1 MHz–40 GHz). The complex permittivity spectrum of a given dielectric can be determined by placing it in a capacitor accessed on its both electrodes by coplanar waveguides. However, inherent propagation delays along the signal paths together with frequency-dependent effective surface of the capacitor at microwave frequencies can lead to significant distortion in the measured permittivity, which in turn can give rise to artificial frequency variations of the complex permittivity. We detail a fully analytical rigorous correction sequence with neither recourse to extrinsic loss mechanisms nor to arbitrary parasitic signal paths. We illustrate our method on 3 emblematic dielectrics: ferroelectric morphotropic lead zirconate titanate, its paraelectric pyrochlore counterpart, and strontium titanate. Permittivity spectra taken at various points along the hysteresis loop help shedding light onto the nature of the different dielectric energy loss mechanisms. Thanks to the analytical character of our method, we can discuss routes to extend it to higher frequencies and we can identify unambiguously the sources of potential artifacts.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pulsed-coil magnet systems for applying uniform 10–30 T fields to centimeter-scale targets on Sandia's Z facility

Sandia has successfully integrated the capability to apply uniform, high magnetic fields (10–30 T) to high energy density experiments on the Z facility. This system uses an 8-mF, 15-kV capacitor bank to drive large-bore (5 cm diameter), high-inductance (1–3 mH) multi-turn, multi-layer electromagnets that slowly magnetize the conductive targets used on Z over several milliseconds (time to peak field of 2–7 ms). This system was commissioned in February 2013 and has been used successfully to magnetize more than 30 experiments up to 10 T that have produced exciting and surprising physics results. These experiments used split-magnet topologies to maintain diagnostic lines of sight to the target. We describe the design, integration, and operation of the pulsed coil system into the challenging and harsh environment of the Z Machine. We also describe our plans and designs for achieving fields up to 20 T with a reduced-gap split-magnet configuration, and up to 30 T with a solid magnet configuration in pursuit of the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion concept.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electrically tunable near-field radiative heat transfer via ferroelectric materials

We explore ways to actively control near-field radiative heat transfer between two surfaces that relies on electrical tuning of phonon modes of ferroelectric materials. Ferroelectrics are widely used for tunable electrical devices, such as capacitors and memory devices; however, their tunable properties have not yet been examined for heat transfer applications. We show via simulations that radiative heat transfer between two ferroelectric materials can be enhanced by over two orders of magnitude over the blackbody limit in the near field, and can be tuned as much as 16.5% by modulating the coupling between surface phonon polariton modes at the two surfaces via varying external electric fields. We then discuss how to maximize the modulation contrast for tunable thermal devices using the studied mechanism.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Accelerated domain switching speed in single-crystal LiNbO{sub 3} thin films

By using ionic implantation and wafer bonding technologies, we peeled off a single-crystal LiNbO{sub 3} thin film in the atomic-layer smoothness from the surface of a bulk Z-cut LiNbO{sub 3} single crystal. X-ray diffraction patterns showed only (00l) orientation of the film. From positive-up-negative–down pulse characterization, we measured domain switching current transients under various short-pulse voltages, where we observed domain switching currents to occur separately at time after initial capacitor charging currents. This is similar to early observations in bulk ferroelectric single crystals, where apparent positive/negative coercive fields of domain switching determined from polarization-electric field hysteresis loops always equal maximum/minimum applied fields. However, after pulse stressing of the film for more than 1000 cycles, the domain switching speed is accelerated, where domain switching current overlaps with the initial capacitor charging current with a well-defined coercive field independent of the applied-field strength. Finally, we simulated the whole domain switching current transients with the assumption of the resistance degradation across interfacial passive layers between the film and electrodes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ball-grid array architecture for microfabricated ion traps

State-of-the-art microfabricated ion traps for quantum information research are approaching nearly one hundred control electrodes. We report here on the development and testing of a new architecture for microfabricated ion traps, built around ball-grid array (BGA) connections, that is suitable for increasingly complex trap designs. In the BGA trap, through-substrate vias bring electrical signals from the back side of the trap die to the surface trap structure on the top side. Gold-ball bump bonds connect the back side of the trap die to an interposer for signal routing from the carrier. Trench capacitors fabricated into the trap die replace area-intensive surface or edge capacitors. Wirebonds in the BGA architecture are moved to the interposer. These last two features allow the trap die to be reduced to only the area required to produce trapping fields. The smaller trap dimensions allow tight focusing of an addressing laser beam for fast single-qubit rotations. Performance of the BGA trap as characterized with {sup 40}Ca{sup +} ions is comparable to previous surface-electrode traps in terms of ion heating rate, mode frequency stability, and storage lifetime. We demonstrate two-qubit entanglement operations with {sup 171}Yb{sup +} ions in a second BGA trap.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Current transport mechanisms in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposited AlN thin films

Here, we report on the current transport mechanisms in AlN thin films deposited at a low temperature (i.e., 200 °C) on p-type Si substrates by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. Structural characterization of the deposited AlN was carried out using grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction, revealing polycrystalline films with a wurtzite (hexagonal) structure. Al/AlN/ p-Si metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitor structures were fabricated and investigated under negative bias by performing current-voltage measurements. As a function of the applied electric field, different types of current transport mechanisms were observed; i.e., ohmic conduction (15.2–21.5 MV/m), Schottky emission (23.6–39.5 MV/m), Frenkel-Poole emission (63.8–211.8 MV/m), trap-assisted tunneling (226–280 MV/m), and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling (290–447 MV/m). Electrical properties of the insulating AlN layer and the fabricated Al/AlN/p-Si MIS capacitor structure such as dielectric constant, flat-band voltage, effective charge density, and threshold voltage were also determined from the capacitance-voltage measurements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermoelectric energy recovery at ionic-liquid/electrode interface

A thermally chargeable capacitor containing a binary solution of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide in acetonitrile is electrically charged by applying a temperature gradient to two ideally polarisable electrodes. The corresponding thermoelectric coefficient is −1.7 mV/K for platinum foil electrodes and −0.3 mV/K for nanoporous carbon electrodes. Stored electrical energy is extracted by discharging the capacitor through a resistor. The measured capacitance of the electrode/ionic-liquid interface is 5 μF for each platinum electrode while it becomes four orders of magnitude larger, ≈36 mF, for a single nanoporous carbon electrode. Reproducibility of the effect through repeated charging-discharging cycles under a steady-state temperature gradient demonstrates the robustness of the electrical charging process at the liquid/electrode interface. The acceleration of the charging by convective flows is also observed. This offers the possibility to convert waste-heat into electric energy without exchanging electrons between ions and electrodes, in contrast to what occurs in most thermogalvanic cells.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

The role of the substrate on the dispersion in accumulation in III-V compound semiconductor based metal-oxide-semiconductor gate stacks

Dispersion in accumulation is a widely observed phenomenon in metal-oxide-semiconductor gate stacks based on III-V compound semiconductors. The physical origin of this phenomenon is attributed to border traps located in the dielectric material adjacent to the semiconductor. Here, we study the role of the semiconductor substrate on the electrical quality of the first layers at atomic layer deposited (ALD) dielectrics. For this purpose, either Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} or HfO{sub 2} dielectrics with variable thicknesses were deposited simultaneously on two technology important semiconductors—InGaAs and InP. Significantly larger dispersion was observed in InP based gate stacks compared to those based on InGaAs. The observed difference is attributed to a higher border trap density in dielectrics deposited on InP compared to those deposited on InGaAs. We therefore conclude that the substrate plays an important role in the determination of the electrical quality of the first dielectric monolayers deposited by ALD. An additional observation is that larger dispersion was obtained in HfO{sub 2} based capacitors compared to Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} based capacitors, deposited on the same semiconductor. This phenomenon is attributed to the lower conduction band offset rather than to a higher border trap density.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hybrid dispersive media with controllable wave propagation: A new take on smart materials

In this paper, we report on the wave transmission characteristics of a hybrid one dimensional (1D) medium. The hybrid characteristic is the result of the coupling between a 1D mechanical waveguide in the form of an elastic beam, supporting the propagation of transverse waves and a discrete electrical transmission line, consisting of a series of inductors connected to ground through capacitors. The capacitors correspond to a periodic array of piezoelectric patches that are bonded to the beam and that couple the two waveguides. The coupling leads to a hybrid medium that is characterized by a coincidence condition for the frequency/wavenumber value corresponding to the intersection of the branches of the two waveguides. In the frequency range centered at coincidence, the hybrid medium features strong attenuation of wave motion as a result of the energy transfer towards the electrical transmission line. This energy transfer, and the ensuing attenuation of wave motion, is alike the one obtained through internal resonating units of the kind commonly used in metamaterials. However, the distinct shape of the dispersion curves suggests how this energy transfer is not the result of a resonance and is therefore fundamentally different. This paper presents the numerical investigation of the wave propagation in the considered media, it illustrates experimental evidence of wave transmission characteristics and compares the performance of the considered configuration with that of internal resonating metamaterials. In addition, the ability to conveniently tune the dispersion properties of the electrical transmission line is exploited to adapt the periodicity of the domain and to investigate diatomic periodic configurations that are characterized by a richer dispersion spectrum and broader bandwidth of wave attenuation at coincidence. The medium consisting of mechanical, piezoelectric, and analog electronic elements can be easily interfaced to digital devices to offer a novel approach to smart materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Calibrations and verifications performed in view of the ILA reinstatement at JET

The calibrations and verifications that are performed in preparation of the ITER-Like antenna (ILA) reinstatement at JET are reviewed. A brief reminder of the ILA system layout is given. The different calibration methods and results are then discussed. They encompass the calibrations of the directional couplers present in the system, the determination of the relation between the capacitor position readings and the capacitance value, the voltage probes calibration inside the antenna housing, the RF cables characterization and the acquisition electronics circuit calibration. Earlier experience with the ILA has shown that accurate calibrations are essential for the control of the full ILA close-packed antenna array, its protection through the S-Matrix Arc Detection and the new second stage matching algorithm to be implemented. Finally the voltage stand-off of the capacitors is checked and the phase range achievable with the system is verified. The system layout is modified as to allow dipole operation over the whole operating frequency range when operating with the 3dB combiner-splitters.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Characterization of the CW starter plasma RF matching network for operating the SNS H{sup −} ion source with lower H{sub 2} flows

The Spallation Neutron Source H{sup −} ion source is operated with a pulsed 2-MHz RF (50-60 kW) to produce the 1-ms long, ∼50 mA H{sup −} beams at 60 Hz. A continuous low power (∼300 W) 13.56-MHz RF plasma, which is initially ignited with a H{sub 2} pressure bump, serves as starter plasma for the pulsed high power 2-MHz RF discharges. To reduce the risk of plasma outages at lower H{sub 2} flow rates which is desired for improved performance of the following radio frequency quadrupole, the 13.56-MHz RF matching network was characterized over a broad range of its two tuning capacitors. The H-α line intensity of the 13.56-MHz RF plasma and the reflected power of the 13.56-MHz RF were mapped against the capacitor settings. Optimal tunes for the maximum H-α intensity are consistent with the optimal tunes for minimum reflected power. Low limits of the H{sub 2} flow rate not causing plasma outages were explored within the range of the map. A tune region that allows lower H{sub 2} flow rate has been identified, which differs from the optimal tune for global minimum reflected power that was mostly used in the past.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗